The Ancient Runes Professor and Her Snarky Potions Master
by severus's secret
Summary: Sequel to The Ancient Runes Professor: Mara Hartworth and Severus Snape have been together for over five years and seem to be going strong but love is never easy...especially with a certain snarky professor. With old enemies lurking in the shadows, will Mara and Severus and their love survive?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **The harry Potter world belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Author note: Lines in italics are in the past.

**Five Years Later...**

The morning sun shown through the enchanted window in our bedroom in the dungeons. It always made me smile because it reminded me of one of the few times Severus compromised when we moved in together two years ago. I reached over to Severus' side of the bed and found it empty. I opened my eyes to look over at his side of the bed and found a single red rose laying on his pillow. It never ceased to amaze me when he did little things like this. Today is the five year anniversary of when we first said we loved each other and I knew this was his way of acknowledging that moment. I reached over and grabbed the rose and brought it up to my nose. It smelled nothing like a rose. It smelled like herbs and the tea Severus always made me after a long day of teaching. I knew of only one thing that could produce this particular combination of scents...Amortentia. It brought me back to a different time...

"_Severus?", I said as I walked into his personal potion lab._

"_Come over here, Mara.", Said Severus as he stood in front of several cauldrons._

"_Is something wrong? You never tell me to meet you in here.", I said as I looked at him nervously. _

"_Don't be dramatic, Mara. It's not like I am giving you a surprise potions quiz."_

_I started to move slowly closer to the cauldrons. I knew there was a reason for this but I found myself hesitating. _

"_Hurry up woman!", Said Severus in frustration. _

_I moved across the room faster and stood next to him. He added one last ingredient to the last cauldron in the row and looked up at me._

"_I want you to learn the smells associated with each of these cauldrons. These cauldrons all contain potions that someone could potentially try to use against you."_

_We walked up to each of the cauldrons and he had me smell each one as he explained what each potion did. There were poisons,mind altering potions, and much more. Finally, we came to the last potion. I leaned over it and smelled herbs and my favorite tea. I looked up in surprise and came face to face with Severus._

"_How?", I said in confusion. _

"_This is Amortentia. A very strong love potion. It smells different to each person."_

"_But...I've smelled Amortentia before and it never smelled like this. It always smelled like old books in my youth.", I said in surprise._

"_It can change over time depending on what we love. What do you smell?"_

_I found myself blushing. I averted my eyes and said, "It smells like the tea you make me and...you. What do you smell, Severus?"_

"_This isn't about me.", he said bluntly and turned away to start cleaning up._

_I knew the conversation was over and I started to walk away in disappointment. I reached the door and was about to turn the handle when I felt myself being turned around and shoved against the door. Severus kissed me passionately and then quickly pulled back and looked into my eyes and said, "Your shampoo and parchment." _

A loud bang startled me out of my memories.

"BLOODY DUNDERHEADS!"

Severus stalked into our room and slammed open his closet. I could see some sort of goo that looked vaguely like a pepper-up potion covering parts of his robes. I slipped out of bed and walked toward him. I couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"I'm not in the mood, Mara.", he growled.

"In the mood for what, Severus?", I said with a grin. I walked between him and the closet and began removing his outer robes. I felt him relax a little against my hands as I removed the goo covered robes. I reached into the closet and pulled fresh ones out, slipped them on him, and began to button them. I got about half way through his many buttons when he tilted my head up and gently kissed me. When he pulled back, I finished the buttoning and smiled up at him.

"Which dunderhead was it this time?", I asked.

"Does it really matter? They are all dunderheads bent on making my life hell."

"hmmm...I suppose so. Thank you for the rose.", I looked up at him and he seemed to stiffen. He had never gotten use to me thanking him for things and this was a common reaction for him.

"I should get back to the dunderheads.", he said as he turned to leave. I followed him to the door and before he slipped out I heard him say softly, "Your welcome."

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	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter World belongs to J.K. Rowling.

I could tell Severus was in a bad mood when he came into our rooms that night. The day had started so nice by waking up to find the rose and classes had gone well. My students were so well behaved that I feared my students had been kidnapped and replaced with new ones. When Severus first entered our rooms, he slammed the door and walked over to his favorite chair next to the fire without saying a single word. I have only seen him do this on a few occasion and it was never an indication of a good mood. I got up from my seat and made a cup of tea for him. I walked over and set the tea cup on the little table next to his chair. I placed my hand on his shoulder and said, "Severus?" He looked up at me and I saw something in his eyes that I had never seen before...defeat.

"Why?", asked Severus softly.

"Why what, Severus?" , I asked nervously.

"Why are you with me, Mara?", Severus said as he looked back down into the flames.

"Where the hell did that question come from, Severus? I love you and that is why I am here!", I huffed out as I came around the table and knelt in front of his chair. I grabbed one of his hands and interlaced my fingers with his as I reached up with my other hand to caress his cheek. He looked at me with uncertainty and I knew someone had put doubt in his mind. "Who said something to you?", I asked gently.

"No one said anything directly to me. I overheard a few of the new dunderhead professors talking about us."

"And what exactly did they say, Severus?"

"They just made it clear that you could do much better and that they will never understand why you would be with someone such as me", said Severus with venom in his voice.

I could kill those dunderheads for putting doubt in Severus' mind. He has always had a hard time accepting that he deserved me and they had just bloody freaking put more doubt in his mind. I would take care of those idiots later. Right now I need to squash this self-doubt that Severus is feeling. I pushed off the floor and sat myself in Severus' lap. He looked at me in surprise. I gave him a wicked grin and leaned down and kissed him with all the passion I had in me. His hands reached up and tangled in my hair as he kissed me back. When we finally broke apart for air, I kissed along his jaw until I reached his ear and whispered, "You are the only man I have ever or will ever want. I'd love to show you just how much I want you." I nipped his ear and I heard him sharply intake a breath.

"Vixen", said Severus as he carried me to our bedroom.

Hours later I laid wrapped up in Severus' arms. I traced the scars on his chest with my fingers and kissed each one.

"I will never understand why you always do that, Mara. They are just ugly old scars." said Severus as he leaned against several pillows.

"I don't think they are ugly and I love every part of you." I said with a grin.

"Crazy woman", said Severus as he looked down at me and smirked.

"I am your crazy woman so you will just have to deal with it.", I chuckled as I bent down to kiss another of his scars.

Severus reached his left hand down and caressed my cheek. I leaned into his touch. When I opened my eyes, I noticed that his dark mark was next to my face. Severus noticed what I was looking at and began to pull away. I quickly grabbed his wrist and brought my lips down onto the mark. I met his eyes with my own and said, "I love all of you." He pulled me down onto his chest and wrapped his arms around me. He held me so tightly as if he feared that if he loosened his grip that I would disappear. I just laid there and let him. I knew that he needed this without him saying a word. Life may not be easy with Severus but it was all worth it for the moments like these. I smiled against his chest as I drifted off to sleep in his arms.

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	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter world belongs to J.K. Rowling.

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I sat in my favorite chair next to the fire in the teacher's lounge. A couple of the new professors were talking across the room and I could tell that they had used Muffliato. I find myself having the urge to cast the counter spell and hear what they are saying but before I can the Headmistress comes in and does it for me.

"She isn't married to Snape. She is no better than a common harlot.", Said the new History of Magic Professor Charles Snodgrass to the new Astronomy Professor Richard Maxwell.

The Headmistress cleared her throat and both men quickly looked up and noticed who had entered.

"Headmistress...what can we help you with?", Said Professor Maxwell as he looked nervously around.

"I was wondering if either of you had seen Professor Hartworth.", Said the Headmistress.

Before either man could answer, I stood up from my secluded location and made my presence known. "I am right here, Headmistress.", I said with a smirk on my face. Both men turned sheet white as I walked over. I knew I was channeling a very Severus-like stance and it helped that I towered over them because they were still sitting.

"Ah, there you are, Mara. I was hoping I could speak with you in my office for a few minutes." Said the Headmistress as she tried to smile at me reassuringly.

"Of Course.", I said as I smiled back. I knew something was going on but I refused to give the two gossips in the room any more fuel to spread rumors. The Headmistress walked out the door and I followed slightly behind her. I found myself dreading any news I would get once I reached her office. We reached her office too quickly for my liking and I found myself pacing in front of her desk.

"Would you please sit down, Mara?"

"Is it really necessary for me to? Just tell me, Minerva. If this is about Severus and I, this conversion is unnecessary because I don't give a bloody care what those dunderhead professors think of me!", I said in frustration.

"Mara, I wish this was about them. Please, sit.", begged the Headmistress.

I sat down and began fiddling with a necklace Severus had given me for Christmas. It always made me feel safe when I was feeling scared or nervous. I looked up at the Headmistress and said, "Please, just tell me."

"Your father was spotted in London. He was gone by the time the Aurors got there. I'm sorry, Mara."

All of my old fears engulfed me and I froze in complete terror. It couldn't be. He was suppose to be dead...he should be dead...he couldn't be alive. It was all I could think about as my world went black.

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I awoke to find myself in darkness but I knew exactly where I was. I could smell the scent of herbs on the pillow and knew I was in the bed I shared with Severus. I could hear raised voices coming from the living room.

"What the bloody hell happened, Minerva?", said Severus in anger.

"I told you, Severus. I didn't know you didn't know. I only knew because it was part of her school records. I thought she would have told you about it and it wasn't my place to tell you. I didn't expect her to faint. How exactly did you know Mara was in distress, Severus? You showed up so quickly."

"It doesn't matter how I knew! What matters is that she is currently lying in the next room unconscious because you didn't think of the repercussions of telling her that a man she thought was dead for 20 years is still alive! Obviously, that man did something to her! Mara isn't the fainting type and we both know it! I want to see the school records! I am going to find out exactly what happened and make that bastard pay!", Said Severus as his fury built.

"Severus, please! Listen to reason. You wont be much use to her if you end up in Azkaban. Let the Aurors handle this, please.", begged the Headmistress.

"Get out now, Minerva.", hissed Severus.

"Obviously, you need to time to cool down, Severus. I will stop by later to check on Mara.", Said the Headmistress in exasperation.

"No need. I can take care of her. I will come to your office in the morning to get the records and I expect them to be ready for me to look over."

I heard a door slam and I knew right away that the Headmistress had left. I could hear Severus' footsteps come closer and I shut my eyes. I wasn't ready to face him. I wasn't ready to tell him what he wanted to know. The door creaked open and I felt the bed shift as Severus sat on the edge. I felt arms wrap around me and lift me up against him. I relaxed as he buried his nose into my neck and whispered, "I will protect you...Always."

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